Sometimes, when you just need a quick dinner and don’t feel adventurous, it is easy to discount pasta as “too easy”, or feel guilty about all those carbs. But the good news is, pasta is a great blank canvas on which you can paint all sorts of tasty, healthy flavors.
You can use generous amounts of pesto, which can be made in a blender and contains easily 2 servings of vegetables per plate. You could also whip up a white bean alfredo sauce, which is essentially watered down hummus, and is super healthy and filling.
Or you could make my favorite veggie-packed sneaky healthy red sauce of all time: spinach and mushroom sauce.
The beauty of this is its simplicity. You only need spinach, mushrooms, some spices, and a giant can of crushed tomatoes.
You can easily substitute in a jar of pre-made sauce, and add the veggies; or use diced or even whole tomatoes, just whir them in a blender before simmering. Canned or dried mushrooms would work just fine as well. You can also use frozen or canned spinach, but it will make the sauce much waterier and it would be best to simmer the sauce for an hour or more to thicken.
Ingredients:
- 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 pint of any type of mushrooms
- 2 heaping cups fresh spinach
- 1 tbsp dried onion/onion powder
- 2 tbsp Italian spice mix
- Garlic salt, pepper, to taste
Step 1: In a pan, add the mushrooms and a bit of water, wine, or stock. Cover with a lid and bring to a simmer. Cook 5-7 minutes, and then add the spinach. Cook another 3-5 minutes until wilted.
Step 2: Add in all the spices, and the tomato. Bring to a gentle simmer, and place the lid on, slightly askew so that the steam can escape and your stovetop isn’t covered in sauce bubbles. Simmer until thickened to your liking, usually about 15 minutes for me.
Serve with or without meatballs, sausage, or any other sauce additions you like. The flavors all work together beautifully, and most people won’t even notice there are extra veggies! If you want to really fool them, you can puree the sauce with a blender or immersion blender before serving.
I love how flexible all your recipes are to work with whatever we have on hand. And thanks to the Brussels sprouts cameo in the background I know what Iām making for dinner tonight!
Thanks Angela! That’s what I aim for, super flexible recipes that make cooking easy and also cheaper! Why go to the store for one thing you didn’t get just because the recipe says “carrots?” Onions might work, or collard greens, or a sweet potato. Use what you got, cooking is an experiment anyways. š